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Waiting for the Senators to drop the other shoe on a trade provided an opportunity to check out how the newest prospects -- all 18 feet and 11 inches of them -- measured up to the group that was already in place.

Maybe this team is no better (offensively) today, but it certainly is getting bigger.

When they dealt Jason Spezza, they had just one forward (Colin Greening) as tall as 6-foot-3 on their NHL roster. What they got back was 6-foot-4 Alex Chiasson, 6-foot-3 Alex Guptill and "close to" 6-foot-4 Nick Paul, who's also tipping the scales at 218 pounds these days.

"I was 5-foot-5 my draft year into the OHL ... I think I've grown into my body," the 19-year-old centre said at Senators development camp Wednesday. "I'm getting my man strength. Everything is just clicking for me now."

Paul says he's been an "under-rated player" his whole life, but that appears to be changing. While scoring 12 goals in 22 playoff games and maintaining his responsible defensive play to lead the North Bay Battalion to the OHL finals, Paul caught the attention of Hockey Canada.

Along with Senators prospects Curtis Lazar and Ben Harpur, last week he was among the 41 players invited to the national junior team development camp in August.

And then, of course, came the Canada Day trade in which the Senators insisted Paul be included in the package for Spezza.

"It was kind of nuts. I was making myself breakfast, watching TV, my agent called, said 'you just got traded'. I looked up at the TV and I just see breaking news, Jason Spezza and Dallas Stars prospects, so I knew I was up there," said Paul, a Mississauga native. "Amazing feeling. It's a huge trade, one of the biggest of the day, and I'm excited to be in it. Great organization."

At Sensplex, Paul showed off his big shot people talk about. At least twice he scored, bar-down. That talent can be traced back to the backyard rink Paul's father Elwood built for him and his older brother Jesse.

"Ever since I could hold a stick I've been out there," recalled Paul. "My dad is real tough on me, so he got me out there for hours just shooting from the corner, practising one-timers, the shot ... I hated it as a kid, but it paid off and I thank him for that."

Talking about North Bay coach Stan Butler, Paul made a comment we never heard come from Spezza.

"I liked that he was really hard on me, I like when coaches are hard on me," he said. "That's the best way to learn, I find."

Meanwhile, coming off the other sheet of Sensplex ice was Guptill, who was forced to explain that he's no Bobby Ryan.

Upon scrambling for information on the 22-year-old Newmarket native immediately after the trade, reporters saw a Twitter post from Guptill that said:

"See you Texas heat ... Canada I'm comin in hot!"

"The funniest thing about that is I actually tweeted that nine days ago, when I was coming home (to Toronto) from Texas," said Guptill. "I don't know how that got blown up like that. But it definitely wasn't in reference to (Ryan's 'comin in hot' tweet last summer) at all."

Guptill is, however, also excited to be in Ottawa.

"A lot of fans have already reached out and that type of thing, obviously there's not as much of that in Dallas," he said. "I'm going to miss the heat a bit, but it's definitely exciting to be in a place like this where everyone really loves it."

Guptill looks to be a good skater, as advertised. He says he has "a lot of offensive ability" but admits he needs to work on his two-way game "a little bit."

"If there's a chance to come in and take a roster spot, that's obviously a goal I'm going to work for," he said. "If I go to Binghamton I'm going to go down there and be a contributing member, for sure."

Back on Twitter Tuesday night, @alexguptill typed: "Watching sports centre in Ottawa hotel room with @NickPaul27, pretty jealous of the face time he keeps getting right now."

Looks like Paul got a little more print space right here, too, but that doesn't matter. What matters is which one of them gets Ottawa people talking more in the future.

LEE FEELS LUCKY

Randy Lee likes a “ton” of Senators prospects, but he feels especially lucky with the sevens the team has rolled at the draft table.

In the past four years, Ottawa has selected at least three players in the last round that should make it to the NHL: centre Ryan Dzingel (2011), defenceman Mikail Wikstrand (2012) and defenceman Kelly Summers (2014).

Bruising defenceman Michael Sdao, a seventh rounder in 2008, was also among those prospects the Senators re-signed last week.

“(Dzingel) is a really improved player,” Lee, the Senators assistant GM, said at Sensplex Wednesday. “He’s maybe one of our best seventh round draft choices ever.”

The former Ohio State Buckeye was a Hobey Baker nominee in 2013-14, then finished the season Binghamton.

“When we saw him earlier, he was one of those guys that just scored. He was sort of a pretty player,” said Lee. “We weren’t sure he was going to get into the dirty areas. He really adapted his game. By the end, he was killing penalties, (playing) 5-on-3s, blocking shots, he can play the point on the power play, up front on the power play, he attacks the ice with speed. He’s a really fast player.”

Wikstrand will play one more season in Sweden’s Elite league before coming to North America.

“He’s an Andre Benoit type player,” said Lee, referring to the former Senators defenceman. “He’s really smart with the puck. He’s safe. He battles. He’s not the biggest guy, but he defends really well. He’s competitive, and he does want to be an NHL player, which is good for us.”

Wikstrand, who missed last year’s D-camp, looks up to Nik Lidstrom and Erik Karlsson, but said “I try to play my game and not someone elses.

“I’m a two way defender, I think,” he added. “Most of the skills is to the offensive play.”

Lee also is excited by about the future of Max McCormick, a sixth rounder (2011) who played with Dzingel at Ohio State.

“We had a really tough negotiation to get him signed, but he’s a real competitive guy,” said Lee. “He’s going to be a really good player. He’s going to go to Binghamton, he’s going to fight for ice time, but I think (coach) Luke (Richardson) is going to love him.”

Ottawa Senators bigger, but does it mean better?

Waiting for the Senators to drop the other shoe on a trade provided an opportunity to check out how the newest prospects -- all 18 feet and 11 inches of them -- measured up to the group that was already in place.

Maybe this team is no better (offensively) today, but it certainly is getting bigger.

When they dealt Jason Spezza, they had just one forward (Colin Greening) as tall as 6-foot-3 on their NHL roster. What they got back was 6-foot-4 Alex Chiasson, 6-foot-3 Alex Guptill and "close to" 6-foot-4 Nick Paul, who's also tipping the scales at 218 pounds these days.

"I was 5-foot-5 my draft year into the OHL ... I think I've grown into my body," the 19-year-old centre said at Senators development camp Wednesday. "I'm getting my man strength. Everything is just clicking for me now."